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Tuesday, March 31, 2009

"European Union President Mirek Topolanek told the European parliament Wednesday that Obama's economic policies were harmful to the U.S. economy and the global economy…

"'All these steps, these combinations and permanency, is the road to hell,' said Topolanek, who is also the president of the Czech Republic. 'We need to read history books and the lessons of history, and the biggest success of the EU is the refusal to go this way.'"

"I do not think that the 16DoA is worth the money and effort put into it. The fact is that while we are running programs on TV and publishing articles in magazines and newspapers, abusers keep on abusing! If the government does not start effectively dealing with crime in this country and actually applying the laws on our law books, efforts like the 16DoA are wasted efforts. We might as well go fishing."

Magistrate Petro de Villiers, who was the presiding magistrate over this case, apparently found "substantial and compelling circumstances to depart from the prescribed minimum sentence of life." The ruling of this magistrate, who made her last ruling before retirement, apparently did not see how McBean's actions destroyed a girl's life, and how he violated this young girl to her deepest core! And the fact that the magistrate is a woman scares me!

Her reasons for not sending this child rapist to jail?

"If he was sent to prison, he would not have to endure public humiliation.

"'The accused must face the community for his wrongdoing,' said De Villiers who added she was convinced McBean could be rehabilitated."

She is keeping this animal out of prison so that he could endure public humiliation? The fact is that he will still experience all the privileges of law abiding citizens! Family time, shopping, vacations, whatever! This little girl will never again see her innocence returned to her! She has experienced invasion of the most private kind, and now has to live with it!

How can R15 000 pay for what he did to this little girl? And, how does community service pay back this little girl? He first and foremost committed a most heinous crime against this little girl, NOT the community. However, a service to the community would be to ensure that this person be removed from society in order that no other little girl (or woman) would fall into this man's hands!

One of the most baffling statements by the magistrate is that "the harm could not be undone by lengthy imprisonment." Since when is that a criterion whether a person should be imprisoned or not? With that kind of logic we may as well give murderers suspended sentences since jailing them would not bring back the dead!

In a country with constitutional law, we cannot have magistrates or judges that undermine the law. McBean already had a previous conviction for assault and showed no remorse for his crimes. This is a dead giveaway that this person should pay severely for his crimes. Magistrate De Villiers has weakened the force of the law by her irresponsible judgement in this regard.

May God have mercy on her and McBean. I hope that De Villiers can sleep at night, knowing that McBean is loose on our streets!

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Politics has always been a contentious subject and together with ‘religion’ has caused more unrest and division than any other factor (apart from greed of course, for we know that “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” 1 Tim 6:10). One has to ask why this is so? Very simply because politics affects nations, generations and each and every one of us on a grass roots level. Why then, do many Christians and particularly the Church, run away from political engagement? Why is it that Christians can differ so significantly on who they vote for and why, when we serve the same God and read the same Bible?

In Hosea 4:6 the Lord says “My people perish for a lack of knowledge”. Many Christians do not know the Biblical mandate they have from God, to vote, to hold their governments accountable and to play a role in societal change. It is partly due to this apathy and ignorance that the Church (and Christian individuals) has usurped its role in keeping governments accountable. 2 Chronicles 7:14 clearly outlines what God thinks about this:

“If My people who are called by My Name shall humble themselves and pray and seek My Face and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from Heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

Your responsibility

We cannot expect ‘government’ to run society along Biblical values, if WE do not elect a Biblical party. Every Christian needs to vote and they need to vote according to Biblical values. We do not prescribe who you should vote for, however when you look at the Biblical Voters' Guide and you see what every party stands for, you as a Christian can surely only vote for a Christian party. If every Christian voted for the Christian option, we would see our nation transformed. God will hold us accountable, because we are the electorate who have the power to choose Godly government.

Elect Godly leaders

Even if you dont like the leader/representatives within the Christian party options, you are obligated to vote for them (as long as they live Biblically and support Biblcal policies). Your conscience cannot grant you leeway in this matter.

Many people will argue and say that “The Christian vote is a wasted vote” and, “We need to vote for the strongest opposition party in order to break the control of government” – but that is not what God would say. His Word clearly declares that we are to uphold Biblical values and elect Godly leaders.

“But select capable men from all the people - men who fear God,trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain - and appoint them as officials..."Exodus 18:21

No Christian can vote for a pro-abortion party/person. Full stop. If you do so, beware – “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned”Matt 12:36,37. Likewise, no Christian can abstain from voting, for an uncast vote is actually a vote for the ruling party.

A critical election

This election is a watershed event in South African politics as, if Zuma is elected as the President (whilst still facing trial for corruption), he could have the power to change the constitution and possibly dismiss his trial. We know this could be the start of a downward spiral for our country and so we need to rise up as the Body of Christ and place our trust in God by voting in Godly representatives, so that the Lord’s will may be done in our land. With God all things are possible! (Matt 19:26).

Jackie GeorgiouThis article is published in the April edition of JOY! magazine (on shelves now) along with the Christian Action Network's Biblical Issues Voters' Guide.

SAVOTERSGUIDE.COM

The updated 2009 Biblical Issues Voters’ Guide in English (including COPE's standpoints) – detailing the positions of 8 leading political parties on 8 key Biblical issues - is now available from www.SAvotersguide.com or you can click here to download. Distribute quantities to your congregation, community and colleagues.

You can also download the Voters' Guide as a one page PowerPoint here (excellent for church announcements or sermons).

"The free bread of Rome has long been listed as a contributor to its decline as a nation and demise as a republic. Its vast systems of social welfare did not strengthen the poor, but in fact made them more apathetic and indolent. It also divided the people, with the working class resenting the poor because of the inevitable abuse of such systems. The early Roman republic, as it rose to prominence centuries before the first Emperor or Christ, depended entirely on free will contributions within a mutual network of voluntary care of their needy."

"The alternative to taxing your neighbor is charity. What a revolutionary idea in a world that has decided it is okay to covet their neighbor's goods through the agency of the governments they create!"

"If we are to be a free nation we must turn ourselves around and seek those forgotten principles of a once-great nation that is comprised of honest hardworking men and women who cared as much about their neighbors as they did themselves. From Abraham and Moses to Jesus Christ down through today, the message has been to love your neighbor as yourself, and not force him to contribute to your welfare, or the welfare of anyone else, no matter how deserving the cause. If a contribution is not by choice, it is not charity."

"Instead, many engage in a sexual free-for-all—but put stringent moral strictures on anything to do with food. A modern young woman might think nothing of living with several different men, and having abortions when she gets pregnant. But she would not dream of eating anything from a factory farm. That would be immoral.

"In effect, some people have reversed the 'moral poles' of sex and eating, Eberstadt writes. They are engaging in 'mindful eating and mindless sex.'

"Why is this happening? As Eberstadt writes, 'It is hard to avoid the conclusion that rules being drawn around food receive some force from the fact that people are uncomfortable with how far the sexual revolution has gone.'"

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

A truly Christian education is invaluable. It will create an environment of respect for God, for His Word and for authority. It will lay foundations of discipline, moral values and a work ethic that will prepare a student for life.

Christianity is a tremendous force for education. Most of the world’s languages were first set to writing by Christian missionaries. The first book in most languages of the world has been the Bible. Christianity has been the greatest force for promoting literacy worldwide throughout history.

Christianity revolutionised education by making it available to all classes and to both genders. Christians were the first to advocate universal education.

The very name, universities, confirms their Christian origin. Uni Veritas means ‘one truth’. It was the Christian monks and missionaries who discipled Europe who established the first universities in Paris, Oxford and Cambridge.

The greatest invention in the field of human learning, the printing press, by Johannes Gutenberg was also a fruit of the Christian faith. The first book to be printed off Gutenberg’s press was the Bible.

Education for the deaf was pioneered by Christians. Education for the blind was pioneered by Christians. The Braille alphabet was developed by a dedicated Christian, Louis Braille, in order to enable blind people to read with their fingers.

It is therefore ironic that so many in education today are so hostile towards Christianity. Perhaps they are ignorant of the Christian roots of universal education for all classes and both genders, and the incomparable contribution of Christianity toward worldwide literacy, graded education and higher education. It certainly is time that teachers, lecturers and professors took an in-depth look at the greatest teacher the world has ever known, Jesus Christ, the greatest Book ever produced, the Bible, and the Christian faith that inspired and pioneered every major branch of education.

A Battleground

However, education has become a battleground. Anyone who believes that education can be neutral is mistaken. Ideas have consequences. Actions flow from thought patterns. Parents are not faced with the choice between sending their children to a religious school or to a non-religious school. All schools are religious. Parents must choose which religion will be taught to their children. Will it be Christianity? Islam? Humanism? Or something else?

The point is that education is inherently religious because it presents a certain perspective and selection of history, values and practices, and it prescribes a worldview.

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.” Colossians 2:8

The Responsibility of Parents

Parents can delegate the task, but not the responsibility, for the education of their children.

Children do not belong to the state. They belong to God and are entrusted by Him to parents to: “Bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Ephesians 6:4

Parents are responsible under God to oversee the teachers, textbooks and syllabi that will shape and fill their children’s minds for the 15,000 hours of schooling. Christian parents should be involved in the Parent Teachers Association and school governing body of their local school. Parents need to take an active role in the education of their young, according to Biblical principles.

The control of education should be in the hands of parents, and the content of education must be Bible-based.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Psalm 111:10

Wide Gates to Hell

Nearly five hundred years ago, the great German Reformer Martin Luther warned: “I am much afraid that schools will prove to be wide gates to hell unless they diligently labour in explaining the Holy Scriptures, engraving them on the hearts of youth. I advise no one to place his child where the Scriptures do not reign paramount. Every institution in which men are not constantly occupied with the Word of God must become corrupt.”

The theory of evolution is often propagated in state school textbooks. Evolution is an attempt to abort God retroactively. Evolution destroys all meaning, purpose, direction, justice and hope in life. “You came from nothing, you are going nowhere, life is meaningless!”

The Bible says: “The fool says in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt, their deeds are vile, there is no one who does good.” Psalm 14:1

Secular humanist education attempts to kill God by eradicating Him from the classroom and from the minds of the next generation. By eliminating the Bible as the basis for all knowledge, humanists remove the very foundation of Truth. They prohibit the only objective standard by which reality can be evaluated.

Raising God Fearing Children

The Bible tells us that God seeks “godly offspring…” Malachi 2:15. As a parent, one of my greatest desires and priorities is to bring up my children “in the training and instruction of the Lord”, to “train a child in the way he should go…” Proverbs 22:6. My greatest concern is that my children grow up to love the Lord with all their heart, with all their soul, with all their mind, and with all their strength. I pray that my children will grow to love, trust, obey, worship and serve God more consistently and effectively than I have done.

We are to “tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, His power and the wonders He has done…so that the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn will tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget His deeds but would keep His commands. They would not be…stubborn and rebellious…whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to Him.” Psalm 78:4-8

God’s Word makes clear what our greatest priority is: “These are the commands, decrees and Laws the Lord your God directed me teach you to observe…so that you, your children, and their children after them, may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all His decrees and commandments that I give you, and so that you may enjoy a long life…love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your heart. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind their on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates…fear the Lord your God, serve Him only.” Deuteronomy 6:1-13

The education and discipleship of the next generation is given as the very first application of God’s Law and the highest priority of God’s people in this passage. We are not merely to teach a head knowledge, but a wholehearted love for God. Wholeheartedly - with all our soul and with all of our strength. Body, mind and spirit, and in every aspect of our lives, we are to radiate and reflect our love for the Lord.

In the Light of God’s Law

The Lord’s commandments should be discussed, morning, noon and night. From the very first thing in the morning to the last thing at night. God’s Word is to be such an integral part of our lives that everything we do with our hands and everything that we think with our minds is to be guided and governed by Scripture. Our homes should also reflect the Lordship of Christ in all areas of life and everything within our gates, even our gardens. People should be able to tell the difference Christ makes in our lives. They should see that we love the Lord and that the Bible governs every aspect of our lives.

We need to be aware of negative peer pressure and bullies. Our children need to have the Spiritual backbone and the courage to stand up for their convictions and fight for the Faith. Temptations and traps of the devil surround and press in on young people today demanding their attention and allegiance: Hollywood stars, rock idols, sports heroes, political leaders, cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, hip hop, rap, rebellion and rock and roll, gangster pimp music, fashions and worldly friends.

“Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong…” Exodus 23:2

Our time is so limited. We need to make great efforts to protect our families’ time. We need to schedule family priorities into our diary. We need to focus on God’s priorities.

“Only one life, it will soon be passed – only what’s done for Christ will last.”

The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. We must put most of our efforts into that which really matters the most. I want my children to learn to be brave, to be dependable, faithful, disciplined Christians of integrity, people of their word who can be depended upon to honour their commitments. They need to learn to be unselfish, to always put personal feelings and interest aside in order to do what is right, to care for the weak and needy and for the lonely. To rescue stray animals, to help those who are in greatest need, and to serve the Lord sacrificially. For me to teach this to my children, they need to see these priorities and principles at work in my life, consistently.

As a father I have a God-given duty to provide for and protect my children, and to be an example to them as I disciple them and train them to be God-fearing Christians who will love and serve God, His people and His creatures wholeheartedly.

“Know therefore, that the Lord your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His Covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His Commandments.” Deuteronomy 7:9

Dr Peter Hammond

Dr. Peter Hammond is a home schooling father of four children, and a co-author, with his wife Lenora, of Reforming Our Families. www.ReformationSA.org

Friday, March 20, 2009

"An interesting and disturbing pattern is emerging in the Obama White House. It evoked little comment in the mainstream press when he returned a bust of Winston Churchill to the British embassy and then gave short shrift to a recent visit by UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, albeit the UK’s support of this nation through thick and thin.

"This was pre-dated by Obama’s calls for negotiations with Iran, an implacable enemy since it first took U.S. diplomats hostage in 1979. It includes more recent comments to the effect that we should be negotiating with members of the Taliban in Afghanistan. What’s next? An invitation to Osama bin Laden to share a glass of camel’s milk some weekend at his convenience?"

Sarah Palin shows true leadership in the Alaskan rejection of much of what is called the federal stimulus package. She has realized what the stimulus package really is: a trap to limit the freedom of the states!

I received the following notice of a seminar on "God and Government" from Africa Christian Action.

CAPE TOWN: GOD AND GOVERNMENT SEMINAR - 6 & 7 April 2009

South Africans are about to go to the polls and exercise their democratic right to vote at possibly the most exciting elections since 1994. It is with this in mind that the Every Nation / His People Nation Building Initiative presents the God and Government Seminar for pastors, politicians and leaders.

The seminar will be held in Cape Town at the His People Centre (in Goodwood) from Monday 6th - Tuesday 7th April 2009 from 9am – 1pm with evening sessions starting at 7pm (evening sessions are free of charge).

The main speaker will be Mark Beliles – Co-author of Liberating the Nations(with Stephen McDowell), President of National Transformation Network (USA).

The seminar will be run in a workshop format giving plenty of time to debate, discuss and formulate practical ways in ways that we can engage the coming elections.

The seminar will cost only R100 per delegate for both days (whole seminar) and will include refreshments.

We appeal to you to confirm your attendance and to indicate who is the strategic team of leaders that you will be bringing with you.

Please RSVP as soon as possible with names and email details to Gaynore: gaynore.cele@gmail.com or call 072 877 6443 or 021 595 8900 so that you can secure your booking. Please note the number of delegates is restricted to about 400 people.

Africa Christian Action will be running a God and Government resources table at the seminar.

SAVOTERSGUIDE.COM

The updated 2009 Biblical Issues Voters’ Guide in English (including COPE's standpoints) – detailing the positions of 8 leading political parties on 8 key Biblical issues-is now available from www.SAvotersguide.com or you can click here to download. Distribute quantities to your congregation, community and colleagues.

"Now that he no longer draws spiritual succor from Jeremiah Wright—the America-hating, racist demagogue who served as his pastor and spiritual mentor for twenty years—Barack Obama has turned elsewhere for guidance in the task of carrying out his political duties while remaining true to his religious values.

"The most notable of his spiritual advisors today is his friend of many years, Rev. Jim Wallis, founder of the Sojourners organization. Says Wallis, 'We’ve [he and Obama] been talking faith and politics for a long time.'"

"From what I see, the Republican National Committee representatives who picked Michael Steele as their new chairman made a mistake. I think Steele ought to step aside.

"It pains me to say it. But it pains me more to watch the opposition party, the Republican Party, spin aimlessly and leaderless, while the Obama administration shreds to pieces, with ruthless focus and discipline, everything that this country stands for.

"Yes, of course, the defining moment for me is the recent GQ magazine interview in which Steele sounds more like a Democrat than a Republican. Does a woman have a right to choose abortion? 'Yeah. Absolutely.' Is homosexual behavior something an individual can choose? 'It's like saying, "Tomorrow morning I'm gonna stop being black."'"

The IEC released the lists of political parties and their candidates for the upcoming national/provincial elections on 22 April 2009. For these lists you can visit the Participating Parties & Candidates page of the IEC.

From that page you can download the complete list of all parties and their candidates (.xls, .pdf), or you can download the lists of each party (ACDP list here).

Having gone through the national and provincial lists of the ACDP, lists that were democratically determined within the party, it once again struck me how inefficient democracy is. Like someone once said, democracy is the tyranny of the majority over the minority. And, haven't we seen that with the ANC rule thus far!

The problem with democracy is that the majority of people vote for a party or its candidate on far less than the actual issues that matter. Most of the time it boils down to popularity contests.

Now, going back to the party I support, ACDP, and their lists, I have to admit that there are people on those lists that I would not have had so high on those lists, if at all! Some of them reached the lists at those high points for two reasons: a) party members either had no idea who the candidate was or what the candidate was like or even what the candidate understood of the ACDP's own constitution and rules, and/or b) the candidate was very popular among the members.

Now popularity among the members certainly does not preclude someone from being voted onto either of the two lists. However, if the candidate, IMHO, either is not real politician material (debatable classification), or that candidate never bothered to even get to know the constitution and/or the rules of the ACDP, how will he bother with the bigger things of running the government?

Of course, this problem is not easily solved, and to date, there aren't any other political system that can bring better equity than democracy!

Somehow, there should be checks and balances (C&B) built into the process of building these lists, and I know there are a measure of such C&B built into the process at the ACDP. Looking at the lists, however, I am not sure that those C&B are enough! Discovering what those C&B should be is not an easy task. Still, the lists that come out of such a process is hardly ever satisfactory.

Yet, the lists are there and we have to make do with them.

The problem with democracy, is that it is enshrined in "rights" and entitlement language. Democracy, because it has brought a lot of freedom, has created a culture of people that think that everything they want, is their right to have. They also think they can say and do what they want. Freedom of speech apparently means that there are no limitations to what can be said, and there are no consequences to what was said. That is mere brutishness and shows how far our democratic culture has fallen from simple civility.

If members of our culture could only realise that it is a privilege to live in the democratic countries we live in, then perhaps our civilization could be saved. However, with the "rights" and entitlement culture, we are doomed to destroy ourselves. If enough people start claiming their "rights," anarchy will ensue. That can only lead to the destruction of our democratic culture.

If only the South African Bill of Rights could be paired with a Bill of Responsibilities that countered each right with a responsibility (that actually carried some type of incentive), we could perhaps have a better society.

Will we ever have such a Bill of Responsibilities? Probably not! Not while we have governments run by selfish people.

Well, that won't change since we are a fallen race. A race steeped in sin! Selfishness comes oh so naturally!

Maybe then, when parties release their lists, those lists will contain the names of the right people.

Monday, March 16, 2009

“But Obama's statements while introducing his embryonic stem cell executive order truly take the cake. He said: ‘But after much discussion, debate and reflection, the proper course has become clear. The majority of Americans, from across the political spectrum and from all backgrounds and beliefs, have come to a consensus that we should pursue this research -- that the potential it offers is great, and with proper guidelines and strict oversight, the perils can be avoided.’

“It would take several columns to parse that statement alone, but just look at the misleading phraseology: ‘The majority of Americans … have come to a consensus.’ Assuming a majority favors embryonic stem cell research -- and even federal taxpayer funding for it -- is it not deceptive to imply that a majority constitutes a consensus?”

Friday, March 13, 2009

In his blog post, The Simple Truth II, Hassan Nurullah said that President Barack Obama is "a tremendously ignorant [and] profoundly evil man."

"After the press conference held by President Obama announcing his signing the order to lift restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research which, ended moments ago, I am for the first time in my life ashamed to say that I am a citizen of a country that would elect such a tremendously ignorant or profoundly evil man.

"In the first two months of his presidency, Barack Obama has proven to be the most radically anti-life president in the history of this nation.

"The lefts sick obsession with destroying human life and in this case couching it as research to preserve life is demonically inspired."

True to the nature of the ANC's bloated ego, they confuse themselves with government in so far that they use taxpayer money to foot the bill for their own corruption trials and personal protection.

Taxpayers foot the bill of Jacob Zuma's personal protection to the amount of R1 million per month! Remember, Zuma is not a public office bearer. This has cost the taxpayer around R50 million so far!

Further, the taxpayer paid R2 million in legal fees for Jackie Selebi's fight against corruption charges. Jackie Selebi's corruption is his own corruption and should therefore pay for his own legal fees. Unless of course the ANC agrees that the government are the co-accused in the corruption charges! But we already know that is true. However, the ANC should pay for their own corrupted cronies, and not rob the South African taxpayer of hard earned money!

"Most Marxist coups rely on deception — and that was certainly true of this one. Just about everything Obama said during the campaign was a calculated lie. His handlers and key supporters were equally willing to lie and deceive to gain advantage.

"Once Marxists seize power through deception, manipulation, exploitation, and corrupt interference with the political process, they never give it up. It is entirely possible that we will never see the end of the current regime of Marxists in America. In 20 years, the President of the United States might still be a man named Barack Obama. At the very least, we can expect Obama and his fellow conspirators to do everything in their power to ensure that outcome."

Thursday, March 12, 2009

The South African Constitutional Court (at the same level as the U.S. Supreme Court), has ruled that registered voters living overseas can vote for the National Assembly in the South African elections to be held on 22 April 2009. The only proviso is that they must notify the chief electoral officer that they intend to vote by 27 March 2009.

Update:If you, as an expat (or any South African for that matter), would like to know if you are registered as a voter, simply go to the IEC website and enter your South African ID number to verify whether you are or not. If you are registered, download the VEC10 form, fill it in and send it back to the IEC before 27 March 2009.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Barack Obama has already proven himself as a promoter of the culture of death with his very clear stand as a pro-abortion promoter and voter.

My question is: Would someone who is truly good and upright vote for the murder of unborn babies? The Bible tells us that the devil has come to kill, steal and destroy!

To make it even worse, Obama has now signed an executive order for open season (and tax payer funding) on Embryonic Stem Cell Research (ESCR). He did this with the full knowledge that research into ESCR still has not produced one single beneficial treatment. However, ASCR (Adult Stem Cell Research) has already produced over 70 beneficial treatments.

“[O]opponents say recent discoveries have made destroying embryos in order to retrieve their stem cells for research has become obsolete.

‘It is sad he is taking this step to encourage and reward the taking of young human life with taxpayer funding. This represents obsolete science,’ said Dr. David Prentice, a former professor of science and molecular genetics at both Indiana State University and the University of Indiana.”

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

“Liberals self-righteously wrap themselves in the mantle of public spirit. They ardently promote policies promising to deliver the poor and oppressed from their latest misery - policies which can only find solution in the halls of government. But no matter what issue one examines, over the last fifty plus years, the liberal prescription has almost always been a failure.

“Why is this so? Why does virtually every liberal scheme result in ever-increasing public spending while conditions seem to get continually worse? There are a number of reasons…

Sunday, March 08, 2009

U.K. schools continue its downward trend in teaching immoral content to its children.

In its latest shocker, it seems that in one district parents may face court action for removing their children from school because this school district is intent on brainwashing its children into accepting the gay/lesbian lifestyle as an acceptable lifestyle.

“Parents face possible court action for withdrawing their children from lessons on gay and lesbian history.

“More than 30 pupils were pulled out of a week of teaching at a primary school which included books about homosexual partnerships.

“The controversial content was worked into the curriculum at George Tomlinson School in Waltham Forest, East London.

“The council has declared that children who missed the lessons will be viewed as truants.

“The ruling means some families could breach rules that children should not be absent for more than 19 days a year.”

Saturday, March 07, 2009

The Washington Post carries a story about people with offbeat names who could not have Facebook profiles with those names. Names such as Batman, Super, Six, Yoda, Pancake, etc. I kid you not!

Now before I give you the link to that article, consider my surname (last name), Dicks. Can you see the irony in that?

If you think that Batman, Super, and the rest on those list were mocked at school, think how I was mocked. But, I am glad I am the kind of person I am. Anyone who mocked me, got double the portion back. Kids soon learnt that mocking me was like looking into a mirror.

Thursday, March 05, 2009

Here is a book that may throw some light on the Left’s preoccupation with ideologies of evil and bondage; ideologies that are directly opposed to the so-called “freedom” that the Left claim to stand for. Of course, “freedom” is simply the Left’s empty rhetoric about an ideal they have no clue about!

"United in Hate" analyzes the Left's contemporary romance with militant Islam as a continuation of the Left's love affair with communist totalitarianism in the 20th Century. Just as the Left was drawn to the communist killing machines of Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, and Castro, so too it is now attracted to radical Islam. Both the radical Left and radical Islam possess a profound hatred for Western culture, for a capitalist economic structure that recognizes individual achievement, and for the Judeo-Christian heritage of the United States. Both seek to establish a new world order, leftists in the form of a classless communist society, and Islamists in the form of a caliphate ruled by Sharia law. To achieve these goals, both are willing to 'wipe the slate clean' by means of limitless carnage, with the ultimate goal of erecting their utopia upon the ruins of the system they have destroyed. One of the foundations of the Left's romance with militant Islam, as with communism, is the lust for death - for others.

Now, we are living in a new era and the party that does not make good use of the internet (websites, blogs, video site – i.e. Youtube, community sites – i.e. Facebook, etc), will probably not make it in modern elections. An example of good internet use is the Barack Obama campaign. The man has the political and foreign experience of a lama, but hey, people are fooled on the internet everyday.

Just having an internet presence, simply is not enough anymore. In today’s world, presentation is everything. No matter how good a party’s policies are, if their online “look and feel” is not good, they will not attract many people for a second and third visit. Statistics have shown that badly designed websites can’t hold the attention of visitors for longer than about 7 seconds. Of course, any political party wants to keep a person around for a while.

Of the parties above, the website I like the most is that of the DA. It looks open and spacious, and has a friendliness that I do not see in the other websites. The websites I like the least are the UDM (bad colours and it looks cramped), IFP (font too small and does not make use of available screen space) and finally the ACDP (old fashioned look and feel and also does not make use of space; the front page says very little).

Without a doubt, I believe that among these parties, the ACDP has the best policies. Policies that are based on an eternal standard. However, a gift given in an old shaggy box does not create excitement like a gift in beautiful flashy gift wrap! It is the presentation that will get the people to visit the website, and then they will discover the policies.

Concerning the blog space given to these parties, it should be used wisely. Blog space should not be used as a dumping ground for media releases. That is the old style way of communicating. It is also the most boring thing you can do with a blog. Dump your media releases in newspapers, printed or online! Blogs are there to interact with the reader. Make the reader feel like you are talking to him. Anyone can distribute information. That is not an art. But to get people to want to read that information is a completely different issue.

Those that are put in charge of writing for these blogs should be writing about current issues as if those issues are experienced by the writer. The writer should show a passion for the issues written about. That passion should be transferred to the reader. And, that is exactly what media release dumping can never achieve.

So, keep an eye on these blogs and see what they say and how they say it.

Thank you for your email to us concerning the ACDP and CDA unity talks. Let me begin by outlining the process that led to the recent meeting between the ACDP, CDA, UCDP, NADECO and CDP which was attended by several Christian media organisations like Radio Tygerberg, JOY! Magazine, Today Magazine, etc.

We have been engaged in talks with many Christian leaders around the country for many months on unity amongst Christian parties and have on numerous occasions extended the hand of friendship and reconciliation to other Christian parties. Dr Peter Hammond from the organisation, Africa Christian Action, and Mr Errol Naidoo from the Family Policy Institute approached the ACDP and other Christian political parties at the end of the year to arrange talks around unity towards the election. The meeting was called and the ACDP was the only political party who responded and confirmed and the meeting had to be cancelled at the last minute due to lack of response from other political parties.

A follow up meeting was arranged about two weeks ago at the Family Policy Institute offices and was hosted by Dr Hammond and Mr Naidoo. At this meeting, the ACDP made it very clear that we are willing to go into the future in collaboration with other political parties and work towards Christian unity. Many of the political parties now claiming to be members of the CDA had broken away from the ACDP for various reasons and we extended an offer of reconciliation under spiritual guidance of neutral pastors but our offer was rejected.

When we discussed areas of commonality it was agreed that we were all biblically based and our policies were similar if not identical. It was therefore not policy that was a stumbling block but process.

When discussing the processes involved and practicalities around fighting a corporate Christian election there were a few concerns raised by both the ACDP and the Christian media who were present at the time. It was proposed by the CDA that each party retain its identity for the election campaign but that we all fall under the CDA name on the national ballot. The CDA being a new body is not known on a national basis and one of the journalists from the media said that at this late stage it would be difficult to justify why an existing brand such as the ACDP would need to fall under the banner of a completely unknown organisation such as the CDA which was made up of regional parties that have had no representation in Parliament nor have contested an election successfully.

The ACDP also said that it would be a nightmare to campaign as the ACDP, having spent hundreds of thousands of rands on posters, billboards, adverts etc, and having gone to the electorate as the ACDP during numerous election rallies and campaigns, to turn around on voting day and say we are now standing as the CDA. Members of the UCDP and NADECO agreed with us that we need to work towards a relationship for the next election but that the plan by the CDA would fail.

When questioned about who would be the face of the CDA and the presidential candidate the CDA replied that all parties were equal and no one political parties head would be above any of the others. The CDA maintained that all the political parties’ leaders would go on the posters and between the leaders themselves they would decide who would lead the country. This was unacceptable to us and unbiblical. One of the main reasons many of these leaders left the ACDP was an inability to submit to leadership and it is not prudent to have a headless organisation with many different visions and directions.

The meeting then asked the ACDP whether we would be willing to put aside any differences we have had with members that broke away and try to accommodate them under the banner of the ACDP during the election and the President of the ACDP said he would have no problem in doing so provided spiritual and relational restoration takes place. Members of the CDA rejected this proposal outright and said “never again under the banner of the ACDP”.

As the ACDP we have not gone into any coalitions for this election and are committed to multi-party governance.

During this meeting the ACDP was disheartened by a serious breach of trust by the CDA, through its spokesperson, Louis Green. Whilst the meeting on talks with regards to unity was actually underway, it was revealed that the CDA had publicised an embargoed media release with an all out attack against the ACDP. This media release was restricted for use until after the meeting. It stated (before the meeting had begun,) that the CDA was disappointed that the ACDP had rejected its offer on unity out of hand. This was quite untrue as we had not yet had the meeting when they released it saying we had declined to join them for the meeting! This deceit on their part showed they had no intention of holding true talks on unity and reconciliation and that they were using the meeting as a strategy to get Christians to think the ACDP was not interested in Christian unity. These tactics are insincere, underhanded and ungodly.

We have never said no to talks on unity or to finding a way for us all to work under one banner. The reality is that CDA has decided that their way was the only way to do things and are manipulating the truth and trying to blacken the name of the ACDP in order to win Christians support. Is this consistent with Christian principles? Is this consistent with how Christians should conduct themselves towards each other, even their enemies? I think not. The ACDP has never, on one occasion, vilified the CDA or spoken against Louis Green or the other break away parties formed after betraying the ACDP. We have not revealed the circumstances under which they left other than to defend ourselves from lies they were spreading about the ACDP nor have we used any of our platforms to speak against them.

As for specifics around your questions I have outlined the question and given a response below:

Question

First, to Dr. Kenneth Meshoe, President of the ACDP.

“Knowing that the CDA put forth their hand of unity to the ACDP, could you please let the Christian voters of South Africa know why your party decided against walking in unity with the CDA?

I don’t want to make assumptions as to why this was decided, and I am sure that if you spell it out, then all assumptions can be put aside.

In my opinion there cannot be many more than 2 reasons, why different Christian groups cannot walk together in unity. The first reason would be that the other group is teaching false teaching or perhaps heresy. The second is that the other group is walking in sin.”

Answer

The truth, as outlined above, is that we did not reject any offers at all. It was the ACDP’s offer that was rejected and the conditions under which a Christian coalition was proposed by the CDA was unrealistic and impracticable.

Question

Third, a question that must be answered by the ACDP and the CDA.

Why should voters vote for your party and not the other Christian party?

Answer

The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) believes that there is Real Hopefor South Africa. Formed just four months before the first democratic elections in 1994 under the leadership of Reverend Kenneth Meshoe, the ACDP has continued to grow at a rapid rate. The ACDP has been growing consistently over the last fifteen years and is the only Christian party with a proven track record over more than a decade for standing for biblical principles in government and legislation and was the only political party to have voted against the establishment of the new SA Constitution in 1996 on the grounds that it violated biblical principles and legalized same sex marriages, abortion and other abominations.

Having had 7 members elected to National Parliament in 2004 along with the ID and the UDM, which each got 8 MP’s, the ACDP is currently positioned as the fourth largest political party. Its presence has been strongly felt over a number of years, with 8 ACDP members positioned in Provincial Legislatures in 1994, and over 100 councillors elected nationally in 2006.

Over the past five years, we have grown and matured significantly as a political party. While our strong stance regarding moral and family values has been well publicized and remains foundational to the party, our policy has shifted significantly over the past few years to incorporate a number of other key focus areas which we view as imperative to nation building. These incorporate service delivery, job creation, poverty alleviation and issues of finance and economic development.

The ACDP is a confessed Christian Democratic Party. Our emphasis lies on being a political organization rather than a church denomination, thus our expectation is that the people of South Africa will place their confidence in us not only because of our Biblical worldview, but also because of our political aims and objectives. Our vision is thus that of a new South Africa brought together by shared principles of family and moral values, good corporate and economic governance, care for the poor and disadvantaged, and the strengthening of our society’s core moral fibre.

We believe that the ACDP has the capacity to address these issues and govern the country effectively, guided by experts in many matters and seasoned politicians with extensive practical governance experience, who have committed their skills and wisdom to furthering the ideals of the party.

The party is spear-headed by men and women of all races and ethnic groups with leadership track records across a vast range of sectors. This incorporates seasoned politicians with years of political experience and excellence in service delivery, managing budgets and fighting corruption; highly successful business men and women; and well recognized community leaders who have actively sought to give communities a voice in civil society and politics.

While coming from varied political backgrounds, these leaders are fiercely united in their unwavering belief that the ACDP is the political vehicle which will ensure South Africa’s true and lasting transformation in the economic, political and social realms.

POLITICAL CLIMATE

The political landscape of South Africa remains dynamic and has changed dramatically in the recent past. Since Polokwane, we have seen a serious split in the ANC which has accelerated its demise as a two-thirds majority party. With the emergence of COPE, many key ANC leaders have left the ANC, with numerous additional ANC MP’s and MPL’s expected to cross over as the election date is announced.

Whilst COPE’s splitting away from the ANC is positive for our democracy, it is important to understand that the breakaway faction does not differ considerably from the ANC on policy issues. This means that they cannot be exempt from accountability for the country’s negative state of affairs, and continue to share responsibility with the existing ANC leadership for the poor governance of South Africa over the past fourteen years.

Multi-party governance

What makes the recent political developments most significant is that it promotes and paves the way for multi-party governance at local, provincial and national levels in South Africa.

Multi-party government and multi-party democracy refers to the process whereby political parties develop coalitions to form a multi-party governing structure in which power is shared and no single political party controls the council. As part of a multi-party government, individual parties are assigned cabinet posts according to how well they do at the polls.

Multi-Party government and multi party democracy means that you can vote for the party that best represents your values and beliefs in the secure knowledge that they could actually form part of a multi-party government after an election. Voting for a values-based party can actually translate into that party being given various government departments to run according to their values and policies. It also means that the party of your choice, depending on how many votes they receive, can use their weight in government to ensure that the multi-party government does not implement policies that are against its core value systems.

Where there isn’t a clear majority, there is no need for a strong opposition because of the emergence of multi-party governance. This liberates voters and financial supporters to vote for and fund the party that best represents their interests, rather than for a party that might present a bigger opposition to the ANC. It is thus no longer necessary to limit oneself to voting for or financially supporting “the lesser of two evils”.

The ACDP is familiar with the practice of multi party governance, as demonstrated by their leading role in introducing this successful model of governance to the City of Cape Town metropolitan council. The ACDP was responsible for negotiating with the DA and all parties concerned and continues to successfully hold the structure together through its chairing of the multi-party forum in council.

Every vote given and every cent contributed towards the ACDP election campaign can and will result in family norms and values being given a platform in government which would be administered through Cabinet Ministers who have a real heart for the needs of the people and expertise to fight for, amongst others, social justice, poverty alleviation, job creation and housing.

Future of opposition parties

The new political landscape means that traditional roles of political parties are shifting and changing. The DA, for example, will no longer play the role of “official opposition” as they largely represent the interests of white South Africans and are unlikely to make any significant inroads into the black electorate.

Furthermore, the ID has lost significant support by siding with the ANC in the City of Cape Town and is now promoting itself as a party for coloured people. Race politics, however, has a limited lifespan.

Certain parties – most specifically the ACDP – however, have the capacity to grow limitlessly as they are making inroads into the black electorate in typically ANC strongholds and the ACDP has the added advantage of appealing to all racial groups across the board. 78% of the population still claim to be Christian and want a return to good strong governance with solid moral and family values and this is in the ACDP’s favour.

ACDP vision and calling

Our attempts to make a difference in society flow from the fact that as Christians we have responsibilities in the realm of the nation as well as in the realm of the Lord's Kingdom. As citizens of heaven (Phil. 3:20), we are called to be obedient to the Lord (Ex. 20:1-5). Our Lord has commanded us to be the "salt" of the earth and the "light" of the world (Matt. 5:13-16). This requires Christians to be in active engagement with the world, preserving as salt and illuminating as light. Obedient discipleship requires nothing less than active, principled involvement with society, including informed participation in our nation's public policy process.

As John Stott eloquently states:

There is a great need for more Christian thinkers in contemporary society, who will throw themselves into the public debate, and for more Christian activists who will organize pressure groups to promote the work of persuasion. Their motivation will be thoroughly Christian — a vision of the God who cares about justice, compassion, honesty, and freedom in society, and a vision of man, made in God's image though fallen, moral, responsible, with a conscience to be respected. It will be out of zeal for God and love for man that they will seek the renewal of society. (John R. W. Stott, Involvement: Being a Responsible Christian in a Non-Christian Society, p. 93.)

PUBLIC OFFICE BEARERS

The ACDP is honoured to be served by skilled and experienced politicians, many of whom have served as MP's, Senators, MEC's, Mayors, Ministers and high ranking civil servants. They are men and women of character, whose lives exemplify the strong moral values foundational to our party, and who demonstrate a clear understanding of community needs and a passion to see them transformed by drawing on their combined expertise in, amongst others, the areas of economics, housing, poverty alleviation, foreign affairs, and safety and security. Every person in leadership within the ACDP is screened by a “Guardian Committee”. This is a panel set up by our constitution consisting of two elder leaders (from within the party), and two spiritual leaders (who are not members of the party) with the express purpose of screening and checking the backgrounds of our candidates according to very strict criteria. This committee was established at the inception of the party to ensure that only strong leaders of good character are permitted to stand for leadership in the ACDP.

ACDP leaders willing submit their lives, their families, their finances and their spiritual lives to the scrutiny of this committee and are bound by their findings. The committee also has authority to recall a public representative of the ACDP if he or she is found to have broken the code of conduct or brought the party into disrepute. The ACDP believes that this will ensure fewer problems with corruption, personal scandals and bad behavior from public representatives of the party when in government. Unlike many other parties who cover up their public office bearers discretions, the ACDP has used its recall principle and removed from office members who have brought the party into disrepute and disciplined them severely.

MEDIA COVERAGE

Many South African have queried the noticeable absence of ACDP coverage on television and radio stations, and in national newspapers.

Since the party’s inception, mainstream media vehicles have actively sidelined the ACDP as a party because of its strong Christian values and moral stance. There has been an apparent disinclination by media to attend and report on, amongst others, ACDP public meetings, launches and manifesto announcements, while providing favoured politicians from parties embracing more liberal and leftist radical ideologies with exposure to the public. As a result, the ACDP has laboured to get press releases out, hold press conferences and have relied on alternative media sources such as the internet, “You Tube”, the party’s website and cell phone technology for communications.

However, the past year has been characterized by many of the ACDP’s recommendations to parliament being accepted, particularly with the Film and Publications Amendment Bill, the Judicial Services Commission Amendment Bill, and to a lesser degree, the Criminal Law Sentencing Amendment Bill. The result of this has seen the media perception of the ACDP shifting away from the notion of a fringe religious fundamentalist organization, and demonstrating a greater respect for, and tolerance of the party.

There has been a marked improvement of late and the ACDP is seeing its party leader being given the opportunity to participate in debates and radio and television interviews which it was previously excluded from and is currently seen as one of the big five political parties in South Africa.

I hope these responses have spoken to your concerns and should you have any further questions please do not hesitate to call us or speak to us on the contact details below

Yours in ChristWesley Douglas MP

I would like to thank Wesley Douglas of the ACDP for his thorough response.

“Imagine that you have lung cancer. It has been in remission, but tests show the cancer has returned and is likely to be terminal. Still, there is some hope. Chemotherapy could extend your life, if not save it. You ask to begin treatment. But you soon receive more devastating news. A letter from the government informs you that the cost of chemotherapy is deemed an unjustified expense for the limited extra time it would provide. However, the government is not without compassion. You are informed that whenever you are ready, it will gladly pay for your assisted suicide.

“Think that's an alarmist scenario to scare you away from supporting "death with dignity"? Wrong. That is exactly what happened last year to two cancer patients in Oregon, where assisted suicide is legal.”

Those who have conned themselves into thinking that there would be a dramatic change when a government of national unity was instituted in Zimbabwe, must look again.

Mugabe is his himself and he hasn’t changed his tune at all. While he remains in power in Zimbabwe that country does not stand a chance. He is still a donkey’s posterior and he still thinks with something that is not his brain.

The fact that SADC is patting themselves on the back with their solution in Zimbabwe, shows once again how out of touch that organization is with reality. In common parlance, insane.

Sunday, March 01, 2009

The illogical notions of abortion in America (and I am sure elsewhere) came to the fore again.

A woman, Sycloria Williams, went to an abortion clinic to have her unborn baby murdered. I am using the word murder to put this whole thing in perspective. So, when the baby was murdered, she sued the clinic for doing so.

Of course, just like American law, this woman is applying the unspoken 6 inch rule. “What is that?” you may ask. Well, it is the distance between being unborn and born. Within American law that makes the difference between being abortable and being left alive.

So, in effect, these people, including mothers, are willing to kill babies as long as they are still inside the mother. What makes a mother think it is right to kill her own child while the child is still inside her, while outside of her it is no longer right simply doesn’t make sense!

The story is gruesome, and the abortion clinic should be closed for its clear violations and outright murder of a child that was born healthy. Further, the nurse that disposed with the baby so unceremoniously should be brought up for charges of murder.